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 RELIGIOUS HOUSES part in the election.'^" The appeal dragged on for many months, and after the death of the prior Roger of Aldenham complained that the elect was ' not free from some faults.' Whether there was any truth in the accusations does not appear, but in May, 1310, the pope ordered the benediction of Richard,"' his election having been confirmed without the usual burdensome visit to Rome."^ Richard's rule was short and apparently uneventful.'" On his death in 1315 he was succeeded by William de Curtlington, who appears to have been trusted both by the king and the pope, being appointed in 1320 to audit the accounts of the town of Abbeville,"* and in 1322 to administer the monastery of Abingdon during the suspension of the abbot. "^ He was, however, subjected to a systematic persecution by the papal officials for a debt incurred by his pre- decessor and long since pardoned by Clement V. An attempt was made to sequester the abbot's manors in Worcestershire, and he himself was put under sentence of excommunication, which was only removed in 1320 after frequent remon- strances from the king."' A somewhat discreditable affray took place in the monastery at the end of August, 1324. A quarrel having arisen between one of the masons of the king's chapel and a serving man of West- minster, the monks flew to arms, and after wounding the masons were received back to the monastery by the prior. The abbot was absent at the time, but on his return took no steps to punish the culprits, who, when the case was summoned before the justices, were found to have escaped."' The abbot was subsequently par- doned, on condition that he should stand his trial should anyone proceed against him."' A few years before Abbot William's death a fire, which broke out in the royal palace, destroyed a considerable portion of the monastic buildings, and large sums of money were spent on rebuild- ing, towards which the abbot procured the appro- priation of the churches of Langdon, Sawbridge- worth, and Kelvedon."' ' "" Cal. Papal Letters, ii, 65. '" Ibid. 71. '" This visit, exacted by the pope on account of the immediate subjection of the abbey to the Roman see, was abolished in 1478 at the request of Edward IV ; D. & C. Westm. 'Abbots,' 28. '" He was clearly an admirer of Abbot Walter ; ' in all his acts,' says the Westminster Chronicle, ' he showed forth the praise of his predecessor.' Cott. MS. Claud. A. viii, fol. 63 ; also Fhres Hist. (Rolls Ser.), iii, 140, where almost the same words are used. "* Cal. of Pat. 1317-21, p. 505. "' Cal. of Papal Letters, ii, 218. '" Foedera, ii, 369 ; Syllabus of Rymer's Toed. 196, 199 ; Arch. Jouni. xxix, 148 ; Widmore's MS. Cat. of Doc. at Westm. Abbey, 134^, 136; Cal. Papal Letters, i, 118, 209. "' Coram Rege R. 26i,Trin. 18 Edw. II. '" CaL of Pat. 1324-7, p. 176. '" Cal. Papal Letters; [, 350, 393-4. The election of Abbot Thomas de Henley in 1333 was confirmed by the pope in spite of some irregularity,'^" and in 1335 the new abbot re- ceived leave of absence from the king for seven years, to stay ' in universities or places where learning thrives, as well in parts beyond the seas as on this side, so that he go not to Scotland nor to other parts at war with the king.' '^' Thomas certainly intended to set out for his university the following year, though whither he went and how long he stayed does not appear. In 1340 he was in England and presided at the General Benedictine Chapter at Northampton, and in 1 341 he and a fellow-monk were summoned for deer-stealing in Windsor Forest, though possibly the abbot was only involved as representative of the convent in all legal proceed ings.'^- The most important event of his rule was the dispute which arose in 1342 as to the visitation of the hospital of St. James. The king claimed that the right was annexed to the treasurership, and had only been exercised by such abbots of Westminster as held that office ; Thomas, on the other hand, asserted that the hospital lay within the bounds of the parish of St. Margaret, West- minster, and therefore within the jurisdiction of the abbey. '^' The jurors gave evidence in favour of the abbot to the great annoyance of the trea- surer, who, says the Westminster chronicler, was so angry that he grievously vexed the church, and impleaded the abbot to the end of his life.'^* The succeeding abbot, Simon de Bircheston, acquired a most unenviable notoriety. The cir- cumstances of his election are unknown, but twenty years earlier he had been one of the monks involved in the attack on the king's stonemason,'-* and his character does not seem to have im- proved with advancing years, for a general tradition of misrule clings to his name. In 1345 he received licence for three years to study in the schools or stay elsewhere where he would within the realm, with entire exemption from personal attendance at any Councils or Parliaments, and two years later he obtained a similar exemption for two years.'^' In March, 1349, the plague broke out in Westminster, and shortly afterwards it attacked the abbey. Early in May Abbot Bircheston and twenty-seven of the monks were dead, and Simon Langham, who had been chosen "" Ibid. 410 ; Cal. of Pat. 1330-4, p. 465. '" Cal. of Pat. 1334-8, p. 116. "- Ibid. 238 ; Cott. MS. Cleop. A. viii, fol. 65 ; Cal. of Pat. 1340-3, p. 292. '"Tear Bks. of Edw. Ill (Rolls Ser.), App. 359 ; Cal. of Pat. 1340-3, pp. 456-7. '" Cott. MS. Claud. A. viii, vol. 65. See also account of St. James's Hospital below. '"Coram Rege R. 261. In 1345 he was im- pleaded for participation in an assault on the men and goods of the earl of Northampton at Uxbridge, but possibly his share was not personal ; Cal. of Pat. 1343-S. P- 502. "'Cal.ofPat. 1343-S. P- 535- Ibid. 1345-8, p. 350. 443